Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thors Stone

I didnt think Iriss base-building activities could raise such a racket. It would certainly make a lot of noise if she went at it like that. Its quite possible that the adventurers who ventured deep into the Demon Forest would have been able to pick up on the noise.

Well, at least the noisy construction work has mostly settled down now, so they probably wont be able to pick up on any more strange rumbling sounds. At least, I hope so.

I had Iris investigate for me again, but there were no signs of a monster stampede just like I thought. It looks like the matter this time was just the Guild totally getting it wrong.

I did plan on having the drones clean up the monsters if ever a stampede did occur, but it looks like its just some needless worries.

But just in case, I still had Iris stay on alert and told her to immediately report to me once she picks up on something that seems abnormal.

But with this, weve ended up in a strange situation of working to thin out monster numbers even though theres actually no risk of a stampede.

Well, we did decide to suspend bandit hunting for the time being, so I guess the Clan could focus on this request instead. Once they determine that the monster numbers wont suddenly increase, the guild would probably call off the culling activities anyway.

After dinner, I invited my party members and the leaders of each sub-party to the Clan office once more.

Recently, it seems there have been rumors of strange happenings within the depths of the Great Demon Forest. The Adventurers Guild is worried these incidents might be precursors to a stampede.

A stampede!?

It looks like the stampede phenomenon really was viewed as highly dangerous. The gathered sub-party leaders all became agitated.

But this still hasnt been confirmed. Or rather, according to the information I received, the danger of a monster stampede occurring is actually quite low.

If Alan-sama says so, then Im sure there is no problem then.

Arent Captain Dalshim and the rest trusting me a bit too much? There wasnt a trace of their earlier panic, and now they were all quite calm.

But even so, the guild still imposed a request on all major Clans. They want each Clan to work on thinning out monster numbers in order to prevent or lessen the impact of the stampede. They assigned each Clan an area where we would be responsible for hunting down monsters. Our Clan was assigned to this area in particular.

I showed them the area assigned to us by using the map I spread out on the table earlier. Everyone checked the area out.

They assigned us quite a large area, didnt they?

Our Clan has a lot of members and all of you are quite skilled as well, so thats why the guild was confident in assigning us such a large area.

If thats the case, then we definitely have to live up to their expectations, dont we?

Yeah, thats right. Once they determine that the number of monsters wont increase further, this request would probably be called off. Well do our best in hunting monsters at our assigned area starting tomorrow.

Understood. Do we split into the A and B Teams this time as well?

No. Having fifty or so people hunting monsters together is too inefficient, dont you think? I plan to divide the Clan into five teams composed of two squads each. The leaders for each team will be me, Sharon, Selena, Elna, and Cleria.

Oooh!

The sub-party leaders expressed surprise when they heard that Cleria would be leading one team. Cleria nodded vigorously with a motivated expression on her face.

These ladies already have extensive experience when it comes to monster hunting deep in the forest. Theyre probably even more experienced than I am, to be honest. Im counting exactly on that experience of theirs to see things through.

Alan-sama, forgive my presumptuousness, but what about the assignment of personnel for each team?

Oh, right. Theres that too huh. If its alright, can you handle that among yourselves?

Im sure Captain Dalshim will choose to join Clerias team anyway. Uh, but I guess all of the other leaders are thinking the same. And before I knew it, an intense argument erupted between the sub-party leaders.

By the way, even though the area assigned to us was fairly large, there werent that many monsters lurking within it. A majority were Gray Hounds, with only a few Orcs and Goblins scattered around here and there. Twenty skilled C-rank adventurers would be more than enough to deal with them.

Since this was a pretty good opportunity, Ill have Cleria and Elna lead their own teams as well. Im sure theyll learn a lot from the experience. Of course, I wont let them take any unnecessary risks, so I already arranged some support.

Elna unexpectedly didnt have any complaints about being separated from Cleria though. It looks like she really trusts her fellow Royal Guards. No. Maybe shes also thinking that this will be beneficial to Cleria just like me.

It looks like they finally settled the assignment of personnel. Clerias team had Captain Dalshim and his Satellite Squad 1 included just like I thought.

Yosh. Well depart at seven tomorrow morning then. Well move separately once we enter the forest, but well depart and return together, alright? Lets make this our standard procedure.

The meetings over, but my four party members wanted to continue discussing the arrangements for our deployment to the sea of trees with the sub-party leaders at the dining hall. I thought it would be better if I didnt participate and declined to join.

Now then, well depart early tomorrow, so I guess Id better get some shut-eye now.

We departed early as planned when morning came. Mobilizing with a hundred-plus people would normally make us stand out quite a bit, but other adventurer parties and Clans were also starting to make their move at this time, so we didnt end up causing a lot of commotion. We blended in with the rest of the adventurers who were heading out of the city gates. All of them were probably going to take the same request as us.

Our assigned area was still a fair distance away, so we continued traveling as a single group. After walking for about two hours, we finally reached the area assigned to us.

Yosh. Separate into your respective teams as planned and begin the operation. When its time to return, I, Selena, and Sharons teams will make sure to group up with Cleria and Elnas teams again, so well go back to Gantz together.

I roughly designated each team to different portions of our assigned area and told them what types of monsters they would probably encounter in each.

I made it so Cleria and Elnas teams as well as my, Selena, and Sharons teams were positioned to quickly perform a pincer formation with at least two teams if the situation requires. This would allow us to easily assist each other in case of an emergency.

Cleria, Elna, Selena, and Sharon all nodded with tense expressions on their faces. They then split up in different directions with each of their teams in tow.

Yosh. Lets get going as well, Walter.

Yes, Alan-sama.

A portion of my team included Walter and his squad. Another portion was made up of some more of the late earls forces.

After roughly twenty minutes of walking, we finally encountered a group of five Gray Hounds. They seem to have already noticed us. I informed the others via hand signs.

Eight magic casters immediately formed up and started activating their spells. Their preparations were long finished when the monsters appeared from the bushes, and they were felled one after another with spells. Everyone commonly used Wind Cutter and Fire Ball as their offensive spell.

It really is easy to finish them off quickly when you know theyre coming in advance.

Yeah. Gray Hounds are fairly quick on their feet, so having our guys prep their spells beforehand is really advantageous.

Can you let us deal with them with our swords next, leader? It feels a bit unfair if our men who cant use magic dont get a chance to act.

Walter suggested as such to me while we were in the middle of recovering magic stones from the corpses.

Hm. Theres actually no practical reason to purposely engage them with swords, I think However, I do feel a bit curious as to how well everyone would deal with the monsters using their swords.

Yosh, lets do it then. Lets head over there next.

My magic sensor just caught the presence of ten Gray Hounds. After walking a short distance, the Gray Hounds finally noticed us.

I gave out orders using hand signs once more. Everyone became alert when they learned there were ten monsters approaching. They then pulled out their swords. I also drew mine.

Everyone then formed a semi-circle formation and surrounded me. Im glad you guys are trying to prioritize my safety, but with this, I wont even get the chance to swing my sword, wont I?

The Gray Hounds leaped from the bushes one after another. They hesitated for a moment when they saw our teams numbers, but they chose to fight it out with us in the end. They started prowling around in circles and gradually surrounded us. One of them got impatient and suddenly made a jump for Walter.

Walter swung his sword and easily split the Gray Hounds head from its neck. One hit, one kill, huh. The rest of the monsters attacked one after another but were calmly and efficiently defeated by the team with their swords. Most of the monsters got taken down in one blow as well.

I ended up finishing off the one remaining Gray Hound that tried to escape with a Light Arrow spell.

As expected of military elites. They made fighting Gray Hounds look extremely easy. With this, Cleria and Elnas teams would probably be fine.

I checked up on Cleria and Elnas teams via the drones image feed just to be sure and found that there were no problems. By the way, I had Iris deploy three drones for todays operation. At this rate, they might not even be necessary.

We continued hunting monsters and exterminated 19 Gray Hounds, 5 Orcs, and 12 Goblins. Everyone fought calmly and methodically, and we didnt encounter any problems whatsoever.

At two in the afternoon, we finally joined up with Clerias team. Its about time to return to Gantz.

Cleria seems to have made a big impression on her team with her magic, and was being praised left and right. She was trying really hard to hold herself back from smirking.

We took a short break, and Sharon, Selena, and Elnas teams rejoined us as well.

Is there anyone who got injured? None? Yosh. Lets get back to Gantz then.

Along the way, Elna, Selena, and Sharon told me they faced no problems on their ends. They actually would have wanted more monsters to appear.

Well, twenty people in each team might have been a bit overkill for these monster numbers after all. However, there wasnt any particular rush to exterminate monsters right now, and the demerits of splitting up exceeded the merits, so well keep the current arrangements.